Andrea
Amaro loves science, but that alone didn’t provide much comfort when she began
taking classes at Southeast Community College two years ago.
“I
doubted myself from the start,” said Amaro, a 2017 graduate of Norris High
School. “I thought I’d never get through my high school career, then there I
was starting at SCC.”
But
Amaro persevered and is one of four SCC students who received Learn to Dream
Achiever awards during the 10th Annual Learn to Dream Recognition
Event at SCC’s Lincoln Campus on May 29. The event honored 51 LTD Scholarship
students who earned 4.0 and 3.5 cumulative grade-point averages. Arts &
Science Division Instructor Todd Kahle received the Instructor Impact Award.
Students
receiving the Achiever Award are selected by LTD success coaches. Others
receiving the award are Alondra Barbosa, Samantha Francois and Liam Mosher.
The
Learn to Dream Scholarship was created in 2007. It is a collaborative effort
between Union Bank & Trust, Nelnet, the Acklie Charitable Foundation, Lincoln
Public Schools and some schools in the College’s 15-county area, and SCC. The
scholarship pays for up to 60 semester credit hours at SCC for qualifying
students.
Amaro
will graduate in December from SCC. She plans to transfer to the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln to pursue dentistry after a number of shadowing experiences her
senior year of high school.
“Always
have courage to follow your heart and intuition, and turn your biggest failures
into your greatest successes,” she said.
Shannon
Mangram, coordinator of community engagement, retention and recruitment in the honors
program at UNL, was the featured speaker.
“I
received a scholarship that changed my life forever,” Mangram said, “but it’s
you who need to understand what you’re capable of.”
She
provided a list of the 10 most important things to becoming “a person of
character.”
Tell
the truth. Be kind, Do what you say you’ll do. Do your best. Avoid
perfectionism. Get back up. Treat everyone with respect. Listen to understand.
Say no when you have to. Be yourself.
Mosher,
a 2018 graduate of North Star High School in Lincoln, is finishing his second
term at SCC. He said after high school he “kind of floundered and didn’t know
what to do.”
“I
was a lazy high school student and didn’t apply myself,” Mosher said.
He’s
in SCC’s Academic Transfer program and plans to transfer to UNL and earn a
degree in Emerging Media Arts.
“I
want to be a singer and a voice actor,” he said.
Mosher
will sing the National Anthem prior to SCC’s Lincoln Campus commencement
ceremony at 7 p.m. June 12 at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Mosher
said the Learn to Dream Scholarship “is one of the best scholarships that
exists today. I was not good at applying for scholarships, and I have very
little money. To get classes paid for through the (LTD) scholarship is an
amazing opportunity.”
For
more about SCC’s Learn to Dream Scholarship, log on to our website at www.southeast.edu/learntodreamscholars/